Fingerboard radius question
- Thread starter dane
- Start date
GardMan
Enlightened Member
Nope... sorry. I've wondered the same thing for all my dreads when fitting Colosi saddles or making nuts, but have never gotten a set of gauges to try and measure the actual radius. Given the amount of handwork done at the Westerly plant, I'd guess there is some variation from piece to piece.
When making nuts. I use a half pencil, ala Frank Ford, to trace the profile of the frets onto the nut blank. The radius of Colosi's Martin drop in saddles (16") matches pretty well, tho' I have had flatten them out a bit on a couple of my dreads. Using a track radius gauge from my model railroading days, the radius of the old saddle I took out of my '81 D-46 appears to be closer to 20".
When making nuts. I use a half pencil, ala Frank Ford, to trace the profile of the frets onto the nut blank. The radius of Colosi's Martin drop in saddles (16") matches pretty well, tho' I have had flatten them out a bit on a couple of my dreads. Using a track radius gauge from my model railroading days, the radius of the old saddle I took out of my '81 D-46 appears to be closer to 20".
I have operated under the assumption that all Guilds have been built with a 12" fingerboard radius. That has proven to be true for all Guilds I have owned or worked on.
adorshki
Reverential Member
I used to think that too, and it's the only published spec I ever saw, but got surprised by a first year D40 we saw posted here recently that had both a 1-3/4" nut AND a virtually flat fingerboard.
Several of us thought the neck must have been "worked over" until Hans confirmed they built a few that way.
"Bluegrasser's" type of preferences, on what was, after all, introduced as the "Bluegrass Jubilee D40".
'Course, that's probably one of the oddballs that confirm "the rule".
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Walter Broes
Enlightened Member
I've seen quite a few (and own some) Hoboken Guilds that are a good deal rounder than that, 9.5, 10, and I have one that's seven-something!
meatwave
Junior Member
I can confirm, my '70 F50r has a 20" radius with stock frets, I'm refretting it right now, keeping the radius.
mavuser
Enlightened Member
My 1970 F-20 is seemingly completely flat/20" radius fretboard; although I am just eyeballing that (and based on playing it, is my guess). Also It was worked on in the early 80s by Guild at Westerly.
Thanks to dane for what is proving to be an educational thread for me. I was unaware that an older acoustic Guild would have originally shipped with a flatter fretboard.
Over the years I have altered my Guilds (all but one) to a faux-compound 12/20" radius (or close to it). Tighter curves makes fingering chords a wee bit easier, flatter fretboards are (a wee bit) faster for single note work. My preference is 12" at the nut and 20" at the saddle. If you are starting with a 12" radius, graduating to a flatter radius as you move toward the soundhole is not that hard to achieve during your next re-fret. The benefits are a flatter board allows for a lower action (we are talking thousands of an inch differences, but to some of us super-finicky types, every thousandth matters).
To the uninitiated (if any remain on this forum); if the radius numbers don't happen to make any sense to you, imagine the following: If you tie a 12" string to a pencil and draw an arc, all points on that arc are consistently 12" from the center of the circle, and the arc has a 12" radius. A 20" radius (20" string) would result in a larger circle, hence a flatter arc. By contrast the earth, with a radius of 3950 miles (pole to pole; 3963 miles if measured at the equator) appears really flat. In case you were wondering. ;~)
Over the years I have altered my Guilds (all but one) to a faux-compound 12/20" radius (or close to it). Tighter curves makes fingering chords a wee bit easier, flatter fretboards are (a wee bit) faster for single note work. My preference is 12" at the nut and 20" at the saddle. If you are starting with a 12" radius, graduating to a flatter radius as you move toward the soundhole is not that hard to achieve during your next re-fret. The benefits are a flatter board allows for a lower action (we are talking thousands of an inch differences, but to some of us super-finicky types, every thousandth matters).
To the uninitiated (if any remain on this forum); if the radius numbers don't happen to make any sense to you, imagine the following: If you tie a 12" string to a pencil and draw an arc, all points on that arc are consistently 12" from the center of the circle, and the arc has a 12" radius. A 20" radius (20" string) would result in a larger circle, hence a flatter arc. By contrast the earth, with a radius of 3950 miles (pole to pole; 3963 miles if measured at the equator) appears really flat. In case you were wondering. ;~)
Oops...what have I done! Um, er...how about: it seems flatter than it is??? ;~}
Carry more string.
adorshki
Reverential Member
Not only that, it's hollow.